Arizona weekly citizen., 1887-08-27
THE REVISED VERSION
what Was Expected of It-R....
 It Failed 10 Become p,,

what was Expected of It-R...
 It faiied to Become Popular.
 Sl1 years have passed since the rav;s.., - eon Of the New Testament was oi,,a., =. .I- English speaking world. For aIr,oS, S,-e s- cade attention had been directed to,ha n,o~. where the scholars in charge of the s-,,,., ,',, oertaking were pursuing their wort I,s completion was regarded as an er.o,h h, =. hgious history. Many believed that ,n;II;,,,. would he interested in the new vars,,,, ,,h. had never carefully studied the ola co,,,s thought that 1t would result in |, oan.roI -o vlval of religion The translation was .I,,,os, universally commended by biblical scboI.-s and theologianS. Great praise was b.s,,,,-,5 on the men who were so long engaged on ,bs oifncult work Large sums were otFarsd fo- early copies. The number sold during i. few months was enormous
 put the revised version failed to supersede the old one It has never been synosicaIIv approved by the established Church Inf Enc. iand that took the initiative in it's produe. uon. It has never been formally adonta.I bv any Protestant denomination for usa in churcnes and Sunday schools. Ii is rarely read at family devotions Few writers ar speakers, lay or clerical, quote it 1t may almost be said to have passed out of sight and mind. Why was it doomed to sz1ch a failuraI NIT. John Fulton undertakes to answer tha question m the current number of The forum- Ibe reasons be assigns are that too many changes were introduced to shit sorns and not enough 10 satisfy others. He alSo thinks mat the poetry of many pasSages was impaired by giving them a too literal transla- tion- A certain degree of obscurity serves to give charm to the expression of poeticaI sentiments. No one is pleased with a likeness or person made by measuring his features anu reducing them to a certain scale.
 These things may have had something to do with preventing the new version from l.a coming popular. But obviously other causes contributed to its failure Persons who are radical or progressive on other matters are apt to be very conservative on everything that pertains to religion. Then a certain ven eratlon attaches to the authorized version of King James as well as to the subject matter itself. In every household the old family bible, m which are recorded the births, mar r1aSes, and deaths of several generations, Is a sacred book. IT neglected at other times, it IS read on occasions of affiictiOn and diversity. Consolation is sought from it The nobIest sentiments cluster around it.
 Thousands of passages from the old or es- tablishet version have been incorporatei into the classic literature of the language, and they cannot be revised Still more passages have been engraved on tOmlstOneS, and none but a vandalhand would erase them. for to do so would be a sacrilege. Old and well loved hymns abound in phrases taken from the old version, and they cannot be changed to con form to the new translation without destroy ing their melody. The old version must re- main, for it exists in many forms It will only go out of use when the English language ceases to be spoken. It will live and help pre- serve the fierce and vigor of the languauge of Times